Social on the Field: Sports Stars & Social Goals

"Stop your tweeting and focus!" Sports stars have incredible power through social media - often more than clubs or other organisations. It is a new frontier of fan and brand engagement - but the rough comes with the smooth and there are hazards as well as opportunities. Performance on the field, on the track or in the ring matters most - so is social a distraction? A hindrance or a help? Brands want athlete affirmation but when the haters have their say, how do you handle it? This panel has a guest star to tell us what it's really like to be fighting to win online and offline.

Q&A
When and why did you start training for fighting? June 2007 - to be the World Champion
What ranks and titles have you held? 4X Div. 1 All-American, 2X Div. 1 National Champion
Do you have any heroes? God
What is your favorite technique? Punching people in the face
What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It means everything to be fighting in the UFC because this is where the best fighters are and that's what I want - to fight the best.
Did you go to college, and if so, what degree did you earn? Oklahoma State University, Bachelors in Secondary Education
What was your job before you started fighting? Student

UFC POST-FIGHT AWARDS

FIGHT – Condit
KO – Fitch, Waldburger, Kampmann
SUBMISSION - None

OTHER

• Was 2-0 in the WEC with wins over Justin Haskins (TKO2) and Alex Serdyukov (W3). Serdyukov bout won Fight of the Night honors.

• Eight wins by TKO, one by submission.

• On six fight winning streak

Richard Ayers

CEO

Seven League

Seven League is a new company focused on transforming the connections between sports and their audiences. We accelerate digital performance.

Richard is a hybrid of content and commercial expertise. He was a researcher on the BBC Radio 4 flagship news programme, Today, in 1994 when the editor asked if we should do something with this ‘information superhighway’ and Richard enthusiastically went to work on his first professional site.

As Head of Digital for Manchester City FC, he transformed the club’s digital profile and business opportunity in 2011. He was named “Digital Individual of the Year” in the DADI awards (has not heard the end of it since) and won some other awards with the MCFC team, including the digital Sports Industry Award. He’s also proud to have helped Channel 4 with their digital coverage of Paralympics 2012.